Examples brought to light henceforth of related art and any/or all limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures. An illustrative ex-ample of a procedure that uses these canisters may be a dental prosthesis using embedded anchoring elements which may be accommodated within canisters the likes of which may be disclosed hereinbelow. However, such exemplary and illustrative purpose, and the related description and drawings herein, should be interpreted by way of illustrative purpose without limiting the scope and sprit of the present invention. Other types of procedures may well be considered as applicable for the utilization of the presently disclosed canister, driver and/or method.
Dental implants may be typically packaged as an assembly including all the tools necessary for the insertion of the implant into an osteotomy formed in the jaw. A typical threaded implant assembly may include a threaded implant body, an implant carrier, an insertion post, a coupling screw and a healing cap. Conventionally, these components are sterilized, pre-assembled and packaged in a sterile vial. The implant carrier, insertion post, and coupling screw are tools which may be used during the insertion of the implant body. Typically, the implant carrier, insertion post, coupling screw and vial may be discarded after the implant body has been inserted into the osteotomy. The healing cap seals and protects the central socket of the implant body during the initial healing period, and then it may, too, be discarded.
During the insertion of a conventional threaded implant, the insertion post may be mechanically coupled to the top of the implant body by a coupling screw which traverses a central through-cavity in the insertion post and may be threaded into the central threaded socket in the implant body. Typically, the bottom end of the insertion post may be formed with a hexagonal cavity that non-rotationally mates with a corresponding hexagonal protrusion which may be formed on the top of the implant body thereby preventing any relative rotation between the insertion post and implant body while coupled.
An implant carrier may be releasably coupled to the top of the insertion post and provides the dental practitioner with a means to grip and manipulate the assembly during the initial implantation procedure. Typically, the implant carrier may be formed with a generally hexagonal internal passage at its bottom end which mates with a generally hexagonal outer surface near the top of the insertion post. The dental practitioner may use the implant carrier to manipulate the implant body into the proper location within the jawbone. Torque is then applied to the implant carrier which is transferred, by means of the insertion post, to the threaded implant body.
In use, an osteotomy may be drilled in the jawbone. The implant carrier may then be used to transport the threaded implant assembly to the surgical site. The implant carrier may be gripped by the practitioner and may be used to manipulate the implant body into the correct position and then to partially screw the threaded implant body into the osteotomy.
Once the implant body has been initially placed in the osteotomy and tightened manually, the implant carrier may be decoupled from the insertion post and may be removed from the surgical site. If necessary, a suitable wrench or dental handpiece is then used to engage the insertion post and drive the implant to its final depth within the osteotomy. The coupling screw is then removed and the insertion post is decoupled from the implant body leaving only the implant body in the patient's mouth.
At a stage subsequent to the implantation and healing, an impression may be taken of the patient's mouth in order to fabricate a prosthesis or dental restoration. An abutment supporting the final restoration is then attached to the implant body. Lastly, the restoration is cemented or screwed to the abutment and/or implant body to complete the placement of the prosthodontic restoration in the patient's mouth.
The procedure described above for installing a threaded dental implant is commonly used by dental practitioners. However, this procedure suffers from several significant shortcomings. For example, the dental practitioner may choose to attach a wrench or dental handpiece to the threaded implant assembly before transporting the assembly to the surgical site. The dental practitioner may choose to modify the procedure in this manner because it can be difficult to attach the wrench or dental handpiece to the implant assembly in-side the patient's mouth. This modification requires the dental practitioner to remove the implant carrier from the implant assembly by gripping the implant assembly with one hand and pulling the implant carrier away from the implant assembly with the other hand. Typically, the wrench or dental handpiece may then be attached to the implant assembly by gripping the implant assembly with one hand while pushing the wrench or handpiece towards the dental assembly with the other hand. This procedure may be undesirable for several reasons. For example, touching the implant assembly can damage and/or contaminate the assembly. This procedure may also require an additional step of removing the implant carrier from the implant assembly.
A package with an external capsule for preserving a dental implant is known, as an example only, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,097 which discloses, inter alia, as shown in the associated drawings as FIG. 1 Prior Art, “an implant 1 and a holding element 100 with an extension element 121 releasably associated with the implant 1. In the assembled state, an ampule 200, with the implant 1 held therein by the holding element 100, is inserted into a capsule 300. The capsule 300 comprises a hollow cylinder 310, the base 311 of which is closed, and a screw-on closure cap 320. On the inside of the cylinder 310, parallel to and at a distance from the base 311, there is a support shoulder 313, which is intended to act as an axial stop for the first planar base side on a fixing part 210 of the inserted ampule 200. At most in the region of the clearance between the second planar base side on the stand part 220 and the closure cap 320, the ampule 200 can move on the axis M and otherwise lies in a stable position in the capsule 300 in the event of vibrations.
“The implant 1 is held by a holding element 100 with a screw 101 and a sleeve part 102. An externally threaded part 131 of the screw 101, which projects through the sleeve part 102, engages an internally threaded bore 14 on the implant 1, while a mating shoulder 161 of a shoulder part 160 of the sleeve part 102 rests upon an implant shoulder. A fixing part 110 of the holding element 100 is latched into the fixing part 210 of an ampule 200, that is, the cylindrical section 116 of the holding element 100 is clamped in a laterally open indent 212 in the ampule 200 and is surrounded laterally by the two jaws 215, 216. Annular shoulders of the holding element 100 bear against the fixing part 210 on both sides. In this way, the implant 1 is held in line with the center axis M inside the ampule 200 without coming into contact with the ampoule 200”.
Another capsule or package for a dental implant is known from PCT patent publication WO 0230315. The known package according to this patent publication WO 0230315 comprises a protective housing and a holder arranged to support the dental implant spaced from the lateral walls of the protective housing. The holder is arranged for sliding motion into and out of the protective housing, such that, when the holder is extracted from the housing, it allows access to the dental implant.
Thus, there exists a need in the industry for an improved delivery system for dental implants. It would be desirable to have a canister and/or driver that may be used to transport, deploy and/or controllably release an implant, in particular, and/or any other relevant medical component, in more general terms, on designated sites. An associated method therefore, which may facilitate the above, is also needed. It is expected that the use of the new method and/or driver may also offer advantages of eliminating a need to obtain a separate driver or transfer, of eliminating the usage of a metal driver or transfer, and of eliminating any metal-to-metal contact which helps to alleviate galvanic currents, ion exchange, and/or other phenomena which might harm osseointegration (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osseointegration), incorporated herein by reference. This may be attained with the subject matter in accordance with the claims.